Ohio city's drivers see OT pay go down

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- The days of Dayton area bus drivers racking up six-figure pay in a year appear to be over for the time being.

The top-paid Dayton Regional Transit Authority driver last year made $77,400. That same driver made $103,600 in 2009, a year when he was among four drivers topping $100,000.

However, the Dayton Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/XkqTtM ) that overtime opportunities have been reduced. The authority has hired additional drivers, and has seen a sharp drop in absentee rates after stricter sick day policy changes went into effect. The RTA management has also increased use of on-call pay.

The drivers' base pay of $22.62 an hour has remained the same since 2009.

The Dayton RTA public bus service offers 29 routes and some 10 million rides a year.